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Will Muschamp gives Florida DT Dominique Easley fresh start

New Florida coach Will Muschamp — when do you stop calling him new? — is aware of Dominique Easley’s past behavior issues, but is not holding them against him.

Muschamp seems to be giving Easley one last chance. (AP photo)

“That was last season,” Muschamp said flatly. “This is this year.”

That seems to be Muschamp’s mantra: last year doesn’t exist. A lot of Florida fans probably want it washed from their brains as well.

However, the 2010 season really did happen. Here’s how it went for Easley:

–Arrived as a five-star recruit and declared himself the “LeBron” of the football team.

–He and Ronald Powell skipped at least part of a practice in August because they were upset about the way older teammates and coaches were treating him.

–Played in three of the first five games, then two of the final eight. By mid-season, was talking openly about leaving Florida.

–In November, former coach Urban Meyer left Easley in Gainesville while the team traveled to play Vanderbilt and said he was, “not part of the team.”

Obviously, someone filled Muschamp in on that little list, and it’s a safe bet he knows even more than has been reported. With that in mind, he decided to set the tone immediately with Easley.

“I said, ‘You’re going to do it our way,'” Muschamp said. “Change is inevitable; growth is optional. It’s going to happen. It’s either you do it our way or you leave.”

For his part, Easley recently said he is happier at Florida and feels good about the new staff.

“They let me know what they expected and said they’d give me an opportunity to show them what I can do,” he told the Staten Island Advance. “That’s what I wanted to hear, and I feel a lot more comfortable about the way things are going.”